If you have read the book, the
adaptation may not seem far off from how you would have imagined it as a movie.
This was a good refresher after 2 years of having read the book and perhaps much
more refreshing as a movie. It is rather uncanny that in the past year a lot of
the popular Bollywood movies have had the tamil culture/ Chennai based themes
to showcase – Chennai Express, Madras Café & now 2 states. This movie stands apart, for it doesn't try to force the culture
stereotypes, while still keeping it real to present day Punjabi and Tamil
cultures. I for one who is a self-proclaimed
south Indian girl born in Chennai, was so relieved NOT having to see the female protagonist
with a funny accent, a geeky look or overactive mannerisms.
The story is about a Punjabi Boy
and the South Indian Girl who fall in love while studying at IIM A and their adventurous journey towards a cross
cultural marriage. Both Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt share a great onscreen
chemistry for sure but even independently as actors have done a great job.
Arjun Kapoor has been lucky getting these meaty different characters to play in the
few movies he has done, but one can’t take away from him the fact that he has
great screen presence and is an extremely talented actor. The casting of
this movie is perfect, one couldn't have thought of better actresses to have
played the roles of the mothers. Both Amrita Singh & Revathy have played
their characters to perfection and they bring the best laughs.
A few heart touching lines from
the book are a part of the movie screen play (Chetan Bhagat) and infused momentously.
Not everything could have been put in a 3 hour movie but I really missed three
funny parts from the book, all relating to the cultural humor during weddings-
the drunk Punjabi Rajji Mama, the red mickey mouse underwear under the veshti
and the Kasi Yatra. Quite contrary, however, when I did read the book I didn’t
really think the world of it but I really did love the movie.
